


My Last Ride to School is Dead

by BBCotaku



Category: Heathers: The Musical - Murphy & O'Keefe
Genre: Angst, Based on a Tumblr Post, Drabble, Grief/Mourning, Implied/Referenced Suicide, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-19
Updated: 2017-04-19
Packaged: 2018-10-20 21:54:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10671519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BBCotaku/pseuds/BBCotaku
Summary: "Sometimes I lay awake at night wondering how Heather McNamara must’ve felt when she thought the girl who stopped her from downing a shitload of pills had killed herself."--Based on a post by @transfuckingtrash on tumblr---





	My Last Ride to School is Dead

Heather Mcnamara scanned the thumping sea of students with narrowed eyes. The Pep Rally was already halfway done and Veronica was nowhere to be seen. Not in the front row, in the stands or anywhere else.

At first, she’d taken no notice. It was possible that Veronica was just running late--she was never usually late, but today might just be a once off. Or perhaps she got stuck in traffic, yeah, that was more likely. That was it.

But then ten minutes rolled by, then fifteen then thirty.

 _Ronnie probably just stayed home,_ Heather told herself as she egged on the cheers of the audience, her pom-poms shimmering as she jumped. _Martha_ Dumptru _\--Dunstock’s suicide attempt just made her sad. I should just let her be sad for now. Yeah, I’ll just…_ She bit her lip, feeling a stitch start to form in her side, a sharp pain puncturing her with each move of her arms or kick of her legs.

_I’ll go ask coach if I can use the office phone, I’ll call her and make sure she’s not too sad--Ow!--She’ll be okay though. She seemed fine--deep breaths--at Ms. Flemming’s talk._

_Heather seemed fine. Kurt and Ram seemed fine._  The thought made Heather freeze, but only for a second.

 _Yeah,_ even in her own mind she sounded breathless, _but Veronica isn’t like Heather, she’s stronger than Heather--oh no that sounded mean...um...sorry Heather, if you can hear me._

Somehow, Heather still managed to keep a smile on her face until her set was done, hurrying out of the limelight as soon as she was given the opportunity. She didn’t stop for a drink but rather darted out of the gym and towards the P.E office, where she knew coach had had a phone setup. Something about having to be able to contact the nurse quickly, yeah, something like that.

She kept her head down as she rounded the corner, breathing heavily in an attempt at catching her breath. It wasn’t until she ran into something that she looked up, jumping back from wherever she’d hit.

“Watch where you’re--oh.”

Jason Dean stood in front of her, his eyes wide, gaze fixed on a duffle bag he’d dropped during their collision. He said nothing, his jaw clenched as he hurried to scoop up the bag.

“J.D.” That seemed to catch his attention enough for him to look Heather in the eye. He was deathly pale. “You feeling okay?” Heather asked, taken aback. “You sick or something? Hey, step back I don’t want to catch anything.” She peered closer at the boy, her eyes narrowed. “Have you been crying?”

“I’ve got work to do,” was all J.D offered in reply, hugging the bag tightly to his chest. He sounded calm, too calm for a man with his expression.

“Right, sure...um.” Heather fumbled for a moment. “You haven’t seen Veronica around have you? She said she was coming tonight but I haven’t seen her anywhere.”

J.D’s eyes lowered again, his grip on the bag becoming tighter and tighter, as though it was a cuddle blanket instead of...whatever else was in there. “Haven’t you heard?” he muttered, his composure still far too steady for Heather’s liking. “I just told Ms. Fleming, I thought she’d have passed it around by now, seemed like her kind of thing.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Veronica committed suicide. She hung herself.”

It was as though someone had punched Heather in the stomach. A heavy prickle of ice rippling down her spine.

“What do you mean?” The question was barely more than a breath. She couldn't move, someone was pushing on her shoulders, holding her where she stood. Cold breath on her neck, a drumming buzz in her chest.

J.D blinked, his mind seeming to come into focus for the first time as he began to talk. “She told me she was struggling,” he said, quickly, calmly. “She said she’s...she’d been contemplating it for a while, I told her parents but they were too late.”

“I didn't know. She couldn't have…” Heather scrunched up her face, feeling fire brush at her cheeks. She was so cold and so warm at the same time. Her legs were begging her to run, to where she wasn’t sure but she had to get out of there, out of the small hallway. It wasn’t true. She had to check. He was lying. Veronica had killed herself. Veronica had killed herself.

“It’s not...she was my last ride,” Heather’s voice cracked. “She was all I had! She can’t be dead!”

J.D laughed, though there was little humor behind it. “She was all _you_ had?” he practically hissed the words, cradling his bag as he pushed passed her, knocking her off balance. “That’s fucking rich."


End file.
